


No Second Thoughts

by vjs2259



Category: Babylon 5
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-15
Updated: 2009-05-15
Packaged: 2018-02-12 09:52:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2105250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vjs2259/pseuds/vjs2259
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The difference is not devotion, but determination. A gapfiller for Endgame/Rising Star, exploring the thoughts of Marcus and Lennier during the battle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Second Thoughts

Marcus Cole sat in the command chair of a White Star racing through hyperspace on its way to the Babylon Five station. His was a mission of mercy, so-called, although the exact nature of the mission was known only to a select few, and approved by none except himself. The crew moved around him, in a precise technical dance, weaving their way about and around the various stations, executing their duty.

 

Duty was a concept Marcus was re-defining at this very moment. Somewhere, behind them, a battle was raging. It was a battle that he had meant to fight, to the last drop of his blood, to free his people from a tyrannical regime. It was her cause, Susan's cause, and she followed Sheridan's lead in the same way he followed Delenn's. Their paths had lain together for a while, and he rejoiced in that. When she had been injured, and he had grasped that their destinies were diverging, without even the comfort that somewhere Ivanova would go on, he could scarcely bear the pain.

 

Now his mood was one of grim exultation. He could help her; the way had been revealed. To his mind, it was still a fulfillment of his most sacred oath: to live for the One, to die for the One. He had been ordered into battle and without a word or explanation, he had deserted the field, choosing to fulfill his destiny another way. By deciding to follow his heart, he was obeying the deeper truth of his vow. His path was now clear. The end was in sight, and he was free to go. He had no second thoughts.

 

************************************

 

Destiny was on the mind of Lennier as well. His hands moved with quick and fluid motions over the glowing controls of the communication station. Duty was a comfort when there was nothing else to do, and he had been glad when Delenn assigned him this responsibility. She was trying to circumvent Marcus' plans, appealing to Sheridan for some answer, some solution. Lennier had analyzed the situation and knew there was nothing any of them, even Captain Sheridan, could do. He had known who she would turn to; he had expected nothing else.

 

When Marcus had posed his fatal question, Lennier had hesitated. He had carefully parsed the answer that had set Marcus on his current path, not fully realizing the probable outcome. The swiftness and surety of Marcus' actions had surprised him. But there had been little time to waste. He wondered what he would do, if he found himself in a similar situation--if it had been Delenn, and some action of his could save her. Sometimes he thought he would move worlds aside to ease her path through the stars. Other times he was content to follow her lead and her light in this terrible darkness. Trapped by the need to speak truth, he had revealed as little as possible. He felt now that he had known what would happen. He knew because he also was caught in the coils of a love unspoken and unrevealed.

 

Lennier envied his friend. While Marcus forged a straight path to what he wanted, to serve, to die in that service perhaps; Lennier could only see tortuous circles within circles ahead for himself. The endless second-guessing of the correct path he should follow wore on him night and day. Staying true to his vows seemed the safest way to avoid the crippling anxiety of second thoughts. There seemed to be no way to escape this destiny; no way to avoid the conflict between his duty and his heart, except to go on.

 


End file.
